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Great honor for mathematics professor at Jacobs University

June 23, 2017

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel sent a greeting, Federal Research Minister Johanna Wanka gave a speech: Academia in Berlin celebrated the 10th anniversary of the European Research Council (ERC) with top-class speakers. One of the four researchers chosen to present their projects was Dierk Schleicher, mathematics professor at Jacobs University. “This day was one of the highlights in my life as a researcher”, says Schleicher.

In the past year, the ERC awarded the mathematician research funds in the amount of 2.3 million euros for his HOLOGRAM project – one of the highest amounts ever granted to a mathematician. The funds were intended for Schleicher to bring top mathematicians from throughout the world to Bremen in order to jointly solve unresolved mathematical questions.

With a budget of 13 billion euros, the European Research Council (ERC), is the largest single program of Horizon 2020, the EU program for research and innovation. During the ERC’s 10-year existence 1,000 projects have been subsidized in Germany alone. Minister Wanka spoke of a “champions league in European research”, which has given rise to numerous Nobel prize winners, awards and groundbreaking inventions. These include the development of a nanovaccine against cancer and the discovery of Earth-like planets outside of the solar system.

“Given the large number of impressive research efforts that the ERC has already made possible, it was a particularly special moment for me to present our relatively new research project on this festive occasion. There are so many remarkable projects under the ERC umbrella. The fact that ours was one of four projects given the opportunity to represent this impressive diversity makes me proud and thankful”, says Schleicher. “It proves: We are a small and new university at which big things are possible”.